Ravenclaw's Snape
by snapeant
Summary: There're a beautiful new DADA teacher, a mysterious new student, and a heir of Ravenclaw. Snape found himself under a powerful memory charm. My 1st fan fic., R&R pls. special thank to Kitty for proofreading my story.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I do not own Snape…though I'd love to.

Another year began, new and old students rushed in to study, while new and old teachers came to teach. All this and much more happened in one magical school, The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

Harry Potter, now a fifth year, was sitting in the great hall with his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. 

'Look at that new DADA teacher, she is a woman!' exclaimed Ron with awe. 

'Snape must be furious. Dumbledore choose a woman over him.'

His remark gained two big grins from Harry and Hermione. 

'Do you think we can trust this DADA teacher, Harry?' Hermione asked. 

'I'm not sure,' Harry hesitated. His past experience with DADA teachers was to say 'not too well', except with Professor Lupin who was the best in the world. 

'Come on, Hermione,' Ron said. 'She's beautiful.'

Their new teacher has light brown hair fixed in a bun at the back of her head, large blue eyes of the purest crystal, and a fine straight nose. She was definitely a heart breaker to men. 

'Which does not guarantee she's not here to hurt Harry.' Hermione added irritably.

'But…'

'Shh! The sorting has begun.' Harry successfully stopped another fight from erupting. He didn't know why, but from last year on, his two best friends had started to argue a lot on trivial matters. 

Harry shrugged slightly. The sorting ceremony had always been their favorite part in Hogwart's start-of-year feast, even though the amounts of this year's first-years were far less than usual.

'Woodman, Ivan.' Professor McGonagall called.   

A large blond haired boy walked forward. He sat on the sorting hat stool and a moment later, he was sorted into Slytherin.

'Another one,' moaned Ron. 

'Yates, Annabelle.'

She was the last first year Hogwarts had. She was a tiny girl with chocolate brown eyes, pale skin, and curly auburn hair that touched her shoulders softly.  She walked slowly to the sorting hat, sat down, and then put the hat on.

5 minutes past. 

Nothing happened. 

The hall was filled with gossips now. The sorting hat had never taken this long to sort a student, not even when it sorted Harry.

10 minutes past. 

Suddenly, the hat jumped away from the head of the girl. 

 'No, no! Not again! I am the Hogwart's Sorting Hat and my dignity will never approve me to do such thing twice! Noooo! Not in my life!' Its shriek echoed throughout the hall.

'What happened?' Professor McGonagall hurried forward.

'I… I don't know.' Harry could see the poor girl shaking as she struggled to speak. 

'Am I going to be expelled?' she asked timidly. Harry was sure she was going to burst into tears in any minute.

Professor McGonagall frowned a bit, but she tried to smile to help the panicking student calmed down. 

'Everything is fine, my dear. Just a small problem we need to fix. Stay here, I need to talk with the Headmaster.'  

But even Dumbledore could not tell what had happened. The hat refused to say anything except: 'No, I won't do that again'.

'Checkalahatte-' Dumbledore muttered. Blue sparks flew out from his wand. The hat turned purple for a few seconds, then back to its normal blackish brown color. 

'No dark magic, Minerva.' He informed the concerned professor. 

'Blackmail is sometimes as useful as magic,' a soft voice joined in. It was the new DADA teacher. 

'Maybe we are being visited by a dark wizard.' Her eyes fixed on the new girl.

'How horrible could you find a 11-year old be, Professor Vail?' surprisingly, it was Snape who came into Annabelle's defense. He stepped in front of Annabelle, blocking the girl from Professor Vail's view.

Every professor looked with wide-eyes and almost dropped their jaws on the floor. Severus Snape, the cruelest and nastiest teacher Hogwarts had ever had, just said something to protect a poor little girl?

'Well,' Professor Vail licked her upper lip a little bit. 

'We have to be careful, especially in times as unsure as these.'

'Would you mind telling me what is so unsure, my dear new… colleague? You technically know nothing about this school.' Professor Snape snorted at her. 

('How can he be that rude? She's pretty, can't he see that?' Ron mumbled in Harry's side, he dared not to let Hermione hear this. )

'I…' Professor Vail's eyes flickered fiercely. She had never expected such a public confrontation from another professor.

'I think we should deal with the hat first,' interrupted Professor Dumbledore. His voice was as calm as ever, but with a clear hint of 'no more argument'. 

The two professors silenced immediately. But Professor Snape was still glaring at Professor Vail. 

'What has happened?' Dumbledore turned back his attention to the sorting hat. 

'Is anyone forcing you to do anything?'

'Of course there is someone forcing me to…' the hat stopped suddenly. 

Snape felt Annabelle's body leaning on his now. She peeped out tentatively. 

'No one could possibly hurt you here,' assured Dumbledore.

'What have you been asked to do?' His eyes turned to a color of stormy blue. Who in the wizard world would be powerful enough to scare the sorting hat? Not even Voldemont could do this. 

'To sort her into a house she does not belong to,' said the hat weakly. 

Every eye in the hall now turned to Annabelle Yates. 

Timidly, Annabelle hid herself further behind Snape, her hands griped on his robe. 

'I… I don't know…I…What house… should I be in?' she barely showed her eyes from behind Snape's black robe. 

Snape looked down to the little girl whose body had literally attached to his. Normally, he would resist, or even hate, such physical contact, but he found himself quite relaxed with her touch. 

Like she could feel his stare, Annabelle looked up; her watery eyes met his cold ones. She smiled at him immediately. 

A strangely familiar feeling swirled through Snape; he remembered vaguely that he had seen such a sweet and bright face somewhere in the past. But before he could ask her whether they had met, she shifted her attention to the sorting hat again. 

When Snape finally put aside the memories he was stirring up, he was just in time to hear the sorting hat announcing the girl's house- 'Gryffindor!'

The Gryffindor table broke out a round of loud applause. Snape didn't know what he was feeling now. This girl should not be in that damn house; she could not be a Gryffindor. She should be in…

'Are you sure?' he questioned the hat coolly.

But, no response was heard. 

'Albus?' Professor McGonagall spoke, her voice shook. She had a strange feeling that the hat had lost all its magical power.

'Checkalahatte-' Dumbledore used the checking spell again. 

But, nothing happened this time. The hat remained utmost silent.  

Dumbledore contemplated for a moment. He didn't want to scare the students. 

'We will discuss this later.' Dumbledore gestured to the professors to go to their own seats. 

'For now, Miss Yates, please find your seat at your house table. The feast will begin in a second.'

'Sit here. Everything is fine.' Hermione said once Annabelle reached the Gryffindor table. 

'My name is Hermione Granger. These are my friends Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.' 

She paused a bit when mentioning Harry's name, but Annabelle seemed to have no special feelings about the-boy-who-lived. She just nodded and said, 'My name is Annabelle Yates.'

'Are you a muggle-born?' This would be the only explanation for her to react the way she had. 

Annabelle did not answer because at that moment the Headmaster had started his speech. 

'Another year. Though something did happen in the sorting ceremony, I can assure you that your choice of coming or coming back to Hogwarts is a wise one. My staff and I will try to the best of our abilities to equip you for the challenges of the wizarding world. Now,' Dumbledore motioned to Professor Vail. 'Allow me to introduce our new DADA teacher to you, Professor Emma Vail.'

            Snape was sitting in his own room, thinking about the events of the evening. What happened to him? Vail was right, that Annabelle girl was obviously suspicious. Why did he stand up for her? The usual him would probably persuade the Headmaster to expel such a potential danger. But… he just couldn't let anyone accuse her of anything. She was innocent, sweet, and good. 

'Damn! What are you thinking now, Severus Snape? What are you talking about now?' Snape couldn't stop himself from recalling the face of Annabelle. He knew he hadn't seen her anywhere, anytime before, or he would have remembered. Yet, every line on her face was so familiar. Her every movement seemed to influence him deeply.

'You are disgusting. She's only 11 and she's OUR student. And…and…' His face twisted in the acknowledgement that he had a special feeling towards his new student. 

'Maybe that Vail woman is right. She is a dark witch. I should tell Dumbledore to expel her.' Before Snape could think of a defense for Annabelle, he ordered himself to go to bed. 

He would have to deal with a bunch of idiots like Longbottom tomorrow, he shouldn't waste his precious time debating with himself and thinking of something he should not be thinking. 

At this moment, someone knocked on his door. 

Snape felt being interrupted. It was midnight and he didn't feel like he wanted to have any interaction with whosoever. 

The knocks outside continued.

'Who is it?' Snape asked, not even trying to hide his annoyance.

'It's me, Emma Vail.'

            Snape opened the door in a second. 'What is it you want, Professor?'


	2. right & wrong

Disclaimer: I love Snape, but he's not mine. I love HP, but nothing from it could be mine. 

Emma Vail was dressed in a flowing purple robe with small silvery stars covering it. From every angle she looked pretty, even the anger burning inside her could not destroy her elegance. 

As she strode past the corridor to the dark dungeon, she was still furious about what had happened during the feast. She had made a sensible suggestion, but the potions master obviously had no sense and denied it. How dared he? 

She had graduated from Hogwarts 9 years ago, and she was a teacher in Hogwarts now. How could he treat her like she was just another little student? 

Emma took a deep breath before she knocked on Snape's door. The air here was much colder than any other part of the school. 

'Who is it?' came the voice of the irritated potions master.

'Stupid big nose,' thought Emma. 

'It's me, Emma Vail.' But she would maintain her politeness to him anyway. 

The door opened. 

'What is it you want, Professor?' Snape was in his usual black robes; his eyes glittered with a coldness that Emma had never experienced before. This was the first time she had been so close to Snape and looked directly into his eyes.  

'I…' Emma tried to shake off the chill Snape was giving her. After all, she shouldn't be scared of him. They were in an equal status. 

'I,' she cleared her throat before she began to talk. 

'I want to talk with you about what has happened tonight.'

'I thought Dumbledore had made it clear during the staff meeting that he did not know what was going on, and suggested us to put the matter aside and concentrate on our teaching.' He threw her a 'are-you-deaf' look.

That was it. That egoistic look on Snape's face was really sickening.

'I know what the Headmaster has said. What I want to talk with you is your bloody crabby behavior, Professor Severus Snape.' Emma shouted. Then, she inhaled some cold air to calm herself down. It would do her no good to lose control in front of Snape.

'I am not your student anymore, Professor. I expect your full respect for me and my ideas.'

'So, what do you think I should do to show that?' Snape smirked. 

'Should I bow and kiss your hand whenever I see you? Or should I go around and tell everyone how respectable you are? Or…'

'Stop it!' 

'And by the way, would you mind telling me what have you done to earn my respect?' 

'You f-' 

'Behave, Emma, Behave,' commanding herself mentally, Emma was just in time to stop herself from exploding. 

'Why are you so hostile towards me, Snape?'

'Don't rank yourself too high. You are not worth my hostility,' said Snape coolly, he leaned his body against the door in a casual manner. This new DADA git was an easy target to him.

'Then why did you speak against me at the feast then?' Emma was not going to be defeated. 'You know that Annabelle Yates is questionable.'

'The sorting hat was created by the co-effort of Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. I don't think a small girl can possibly break the magic of four of the greatest wizards we ever had.' Snape lied. 

'Maybe she's a disguised Deatheater. Being a Potions teacher you know exactly the powerful effects of Polyjuice.'

'Do you have any proof or is this just your personal assumption, Professor Vail?' Snape hissed. 

'If your answer is the latter, then please excuse me, I need to go to bed now. I do not wish to waste my time in some guessing game.' Before he closed his door, he spoke again, 

'By the way, do you think it's a good idea to accuse a student so publicly when you don't have proof, professor?'

'Greasy Slytherin,' murmured Emma. She stared at the closed door for a few seconds before she turned on her heel and left.

'Nosy Ravenclaw,' mumbled Snape.  

He didn't need to explain anything to anyone. No one had ever cared for him in his life, not that he cared, why should he care about others? 

Putting aside his argument with Vail, Snape soon fell asleep. 

            He knew he was dreaming, for he saw his younger-self working on a fire potion in his old bedroom, a place he hadn't been to for many years.

'Ah… fireball,' whispered a female voice behind him. 

'What can it do, Severus?'

Severus turned around and saw a slim figure standing in the corner. 

'It can burn anything touches it within a second. A heating potion that is as dangerous as a volcano.' 

'Right. Very good, Severus. You are truly gifted.' Her voice was gentle as wind and tender as silk. Severus could not see her face clearly, but he gave her a shy smile. 

'Your potion is just as perfect as mine.'

'Really? Then when can I start helping you with your task?' Severus asked eagerly. He had been waited for the chance for so long, ever since he met her.

'You are still too young.'

Severus protested, 'I'll be 10 years old next month.'

'I know, my dear,' the woman chuckled. 

'But you can't stop me from worrying about you, can you?' 

'Then when can I help?' 

'When you are really prepared, Severus; when you are old enough to distinguish between right and wrong and when you are strong enough to work out your own fate.' She came out from the shadow, kneeled down, and kissed his face. 

'But before that, I am afraid I can't let you help.'

'It's not fair.' Severus scowled at her trying to express his disappointment. 

'Why?' the woman asked in a tone showing that she had gone through the same conversation a thousand times. 

Severus thought for a while and finally decided his reason. 'You've told me that the Heir of Slytherin is already out there playing with others. Why can't I go with him too?'

'Cause I love you and I don't love the Heir of Slytherin.' She hugged him from behind. Her body was soft and warm. 

'I love you…' 

Snape his eyes snapped open in an instant. He could remember every single detail of his dream: the way he made the Fireball potion, the conversation he had with the woman, the feeling he had towards her and the touch of her kiss on his left cheek; but he couldn't recall the face or identity of the woman. 

'Wake up, Severus Snape. It was only a dream. That woman never existed. No one ever loved you. No one ever will.' Snape touched his left arm absent-mindedly. There was something in his life that would curse him forever. 

It took him awhile to gain back his consciousness. He then got up and washed his face hard with cold water. He felt much better now; his rationality was coming back to him.

'Now, dress yourself and go to breakfast.' He ordered, determined to forget about the strange dream. 

By the time he got to the dining hall, it was crowded with students and teachers. He strode past the students quickly, not wanting his morning to be spoiled by the noisy kids. 

However, he stopped dead when he saw Annabelle. She was sitting with the other Gryffindors, playing with her food, fork in hand, looking spiritlessly at the pancakes. 

'What are you doing, Miss Yates?' Snape almost bit off his tongue when he heard himself saying this.

Annabelle looked up; a lovely rosy red blush covered her face. 

'I don't like sausages and pancakes.'

Several soft cries broke out from the surrounding. How could she talk with the potion master like this? He would give her detentions through Christmas for such a remark.

'Then don't eat.' Once again, Snape's mouth went against his will.

'But I am hungry.' The girl pouted. 

            'Then eat.' Merlin, his mouth was out of his control this morning.  

At that moment, some brave souls from Gryffindor could not bear to see their fellow falling into the trap of the evil teacher.  

'Anna, I have chocolate frogs in my room.' Harry pushed her dish away from her. 

'You don't need to eat here.'

Amazingly, Snape regained his self-control at the sight of Harry. 

'10 points from Gryffindor for interrupting a teacher, Mr. Potter.' He paused, hesitated for a second, 

'A point from Gryffindor for wasting your food, Miss Yates.' 

'You better be careful in front of Snape,' said Harry after watching Snape off at safe distance. 

'Why?' Annabelle frowned at his statement.

'Cause he's wicked,' Ron said. 'He's the head of Slytherin so he's the enemy of all Gryffindors.'

'How do you distinguish between enemy and friend?' Annabelle was now looking intensely at Snape's back. 'What do you know about this man?' 

Ron silenced. He hadn't expected such response.

'Anna, we know loads more about Snape than you,' Hermione came to help Ron. 

'Don't be fooled because he stood up for you last night. It may be the only 

occasion that Snape ever stood up for someone.'

'Yes. Don't mess around with Snape, for your own good. Snape can turn very nasty.' Harry added worriedly. He didn't want her to be hurt. 

'I see,' but golden sparks lit up in her brown eyes when she spoke. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

            DADA class.

'With Slytherin again,' moaned Ron loudly. 'I wonder who organizes our timetable every year.'

'Shut up, Weasley. Do you think we wish to see your poor Weasley's face so early in the morning?' 

Ron turned around and not surprisingly saw Draco Malfoy. 

'You can go away then.'

'I think you should be the one to go. After all, you can save your parents the troubles of paying your tuition fee.' 

All the Slytherins broke into laughter. 

'Duel, Malfoy,' yelled Ron with a burning red face. 

'I am afraid I can't allow you to fight in my classroom, mister…' Professor Vail was standing beside the door. 

'Ron Weasley, is it? Sit down, gentlemen.' She waved Ron and Draco to their seats. 

'Sorry for a bit late, class. My name is Professor Emma Vail.' She glanced around the classroom.

'This is my first teaching job but I am positive that I can handle it very well. After all, I am a graduate from Hogwarts, I should have no problems in managing in my mother school.' She looked around again, and spoke slower this time, 

'I won't teach in this lesson. Instead, I want to use the class period as a time to know where your level is and to let you know me more. So, I will do the roll call in this way: when I call you name, I will ask you one question about the dark art; after you answered, you can ask me any question in return and I will try my best to answer you. Is that clear?'

'What does that woman think she's doing?' Harry heard Malfoy saying this to Vincent. 

'Is that your question for me,' Professor Vail looked into her name list for a second, and then called out, 'Mr. Malfoy? If so, then my answer is I am trying to build a bond between my students and I.' She stared into Malfoy's eyes and he glared back. After a good few minutes, Malfoy lost his staring contest and turned away. A cunning smile found its way to Professor Vail's lips.

'Isn't she beautiful?' Ron punched Harry with his elbow.

'Wait for your turn, Mr.Weasley. Let me ask Mr. Malfoy my question first.' Ron's face turned red the second time in this class. 

'Mr. Malfoy, can you tell me how can you distinguish a werewolf from human?'

'I… I don't know.' Stuttered Malfoy.

'Yea,' cheered Ron in Malfoy's defeat.

'Mr. Weasley, I don't think I am beautiful. What is the most effective way to ward off a Boggart?'

'Well,' Ron didn't expect Professor Vail to turn to him that suddenly. 

'Well, laughter?' He saw Hermione mouthing the answer to him. 

'I saw that, Miss…'

'Granger, Professor.' Hermione's voice was a bit lower than usual, since she was caught cheating by a teacher. 

'Miss Granger, what is your question?' 

'Professor, I have read about you in 'Witches of this Century' and 'The 1000 most powerful wizards from Ravenclaw', why are you teaching DADA? Ravenclaws are not renowned for their ability in this subject.'

'Good question, Miss Granger. But I am afraid I can't award you any points for asking such a good personal question.' Professor Vail replied in a light tone. She seemed to be pleased with the question. 

'First, Rowena Ravenclaw was a very clever witch; her knowledge did not stop at what she knew well. She was only more famous in other aspects, like potion, if you ask me. Second, how can you distinguish a person from which house he or she is from? No offense means, but a Gryffindor may give in for the dark side too.' Harry thought about Peter Pettigrew immediately.  

'What I mean is- class, remember, judge a person by who he is, not who he should be.' 

There was a ten-second silence before Harry raised his hand.

'Then what do you think about Professor Snape?' asked Harry, remembering the conversation he had with Annabelle earlier in the morning. 

'You are Mr. Potter, am I right?' said Professor Vail, spotting Harry's scar. 

'Yes, Professor, I am.' 

'Well, I am afraid your question is the very question that I don't really know how to answer. Professor Snape came to teach in Hogwarts in my seventh year. This means I was only his student for one short year. That's certainly not enough for me to judge him, especially accounting to the fact that he has changed quite a lot in these 9 years.'

'How old is Snape?' asked Millicent Bulstrode. 

'How old are you?' asked Vincent at the same time. 

Harry rolled his eyes upward. 

'Snape is about 31 or 32, and I am 27.' Professor Vail answered fairly quickly. 

'And, now it's time for me to ask you four questions.' She turned to Hermione first. 

'What is a dementor, Miss Granger?' 

Hermione replied with a whole 5-minute speech. 

The class went by quickly. Harry started to think this year's DADA might not be as bad as he thought until Professor Vail's announcement.

'Before you leave, class. Please note that you have to hand in 3 rolls of parchment on the question I asked you. For those who cannot answer my question, or those who need help from others,' she eyed Ron and Neville briefly, 'write an extra roll please. You may leave now.'


	3. memory charm

Disclaimer: none of the characters in HP belongs to me. Don't sue me because I love them.

At the same time, the first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were having their potion lesson in the dungeon. 

'Potion making is a subtle science and an exact art of magic.' Snape said when he rushed into the classroom. The cold air seemed to condense even more with his entrance. 

'I don't expect a bunch of dunderheads like you to be able to admire or even to understand the beauty of it. But, I do expect your full attention during my lesson. If I ever catch any mischief in this room,' he paused intentionally to create a horror amongst his students, 'I will make sure you know the full power of my potion immediately.' 

The whole class sat in dead silence. Every one, even the muggle-born students who knew nothing about the wizarding world before coming to Hogwarts, knew how creepy Snape was. 

'Miss Walpole, what would I get if I add powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?' Snape picked a Gryffindor randomly from his list. 

The poor victim was a fat sandy-haired girl. Her healthy pink face turned into a mixture of green and purple the moment Snape called her name. She opened and closed her mouth several times as if she was struggling to answer or just- breath.

'Miss Walpole?' Snape asked, evilly.

Laughter was heard from the Slytherins. 

'Draught of Living Death.' A voice came in. 

Snape span around and saw the very one he tried to avoid had spoken. 

He knew Annabelle Yates was in this class. He knew he had a special feeling towards her. But he also knew he was not going to let her took over his life. Therefore, before coming into the classroom, Snape had told himself mentally that he would use all of his strength to ignore the girl. 

'I am not asking you,' Snape's eyes narrowed and glittered angrily, for her and himself. 

'I think what you want is the answer, and you won't care who gives you that,' she smiled lazily.

            _'You should smile more, Severus.' The woman smiled lazily at him.  _

_'How can I smile when I need to concentrate on making my potion?' he protested half-heartedly, he would never go fully against her wishes. _

_'But you look so handsome when your face isn't scrunched up like a weasel with a cold.' Then she started to giggle. Her voice echoed around the small room, like the April sun that would warm your whole body, caressing you. _

_ Severus could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. _

            Snape shook the memory off violently. It was outrageous for him to be influenced that easily by a little girl.

'If you're that clever, Miss Yates, then tell me: where would you look if I told you to find me a bezor?' 

'A goat's stomach,' she replied instantly.

'What is the difference between monkshood and wolfbane?'

'No difference.'

'What potion are we going to make for this class?' this question was almost insane. How could a student know his teaching plan?

'Baola, a potion for curing boils. You have all the ingredients on your desk.' She got the answer. Snape paused for a whole second. 

'Very good,' he suddenly snapped at the whole class. 'Haven't you all heard what Miss Yates has said? Turn your book to page 34; you have 5 minutes to read about the potion before brewing it.'  

Then he looked back to Annabelle, this time, his voice was barely more than a whisper. 

'If you are that clever, you should know that I can make a hundred different potions out from the ingredients I have on my desk. Why do you think it is Baola?'

'Because it is the only potion first-years can possibly handle in their first class, and because it is the first potion you learned...' Annabelle choked off, as if realizing she had spoken something forbidden. 

'The first potion I learned is a sleeping potion. More complicated and difficult, but that's the first potion I made.' He made it in his first potion class in Hogwarts. Snape could still recall the astonishment of Professor Martin, the school potion master at that time, when he saw his concise and flawless performance. From that time onwards, everyone knew Severus Snape was a prodigy in potion making. 

'You are right, Professor,' Annabelle said mindfully, 'I guess I just mixed you up with someone I knew.'

'5 points from Gryffindor for that then,' Snape said as he walked away. But he returned half an hour later, to examine the potion she had made more closely.

He had criticized every single potion in the lesson, not that much to his Slytherins' though, but her potion was just perfect. Actually, it was not even really made by her, as Snape noticed. Most of the time, she just sat there telling her partner, Christine Walpole, what to do. She would not intervene unless Walpole was unable to complete certain tasks. 

Snape stared at the cauldron as hard as he could, trying to find a mistake. Then, involuntarily, he looked up. 

'A point for not actively participating in your lesson.' He then swept to the next table.

'That is so unfair,' whimpered Christine. 'He just makes up things so he can deduct points from our house.'

Indeed. At the end of the potions lesson, Snape had successfully taken off 25 points from Gryffindor while rewarding Slytherin 10 points.

'Class dismissed. Hand in 2 feet of writing on Baola in the next class.' The whole class left in a line quietly but quickly. No one wanted to stay in the cold dungeon any longer. No one but Annabelle. 

'What is it you want, Miss Yates?' Snape felt exhausted, faintly remembering that he had asked a similar question last night.

'Why do you pretend to be that harsh and sour?' 

            _'Why?' Snape heard himself asking. He was losing consciousness quicker than he imagined. The whole world around him was spinning._

_'I am sorry, Severus, but this is the best for the both of us,' her usual light chocolate eyes were clouded by endless darkness. Every word she spoke was sad but determined. He hated her tone. _

_'What have I done to deserve this? I've done everything you want me to do, I've followed every one of your orders. Why are you deserting me now?' he asked desperately. His heart was aching by the fact that the person he trusted the most in his life had betrayed him. _

_'Lift this damned charm from me!' he shouted, but his voice was weak. _

_'Forgive me, Severus. But it's time for me to leave your life. When you wake up, you will have a new life. Be good, be safe, and don' be that harsh and sour to others anymore. You know it's always been my wish to see you have your own family…' _

_He didn't want to hear that, at all. Snape leaned his body towards the wall, hoping that it could give him some strength. He could not black out now, not now, or every thing would end, his memory, his effort, his dream… and his love._

_'Don't do this to me, please, don't, R…'_

            Snape's mind swam back to reality abruptly. Just one more second, and he would know the name of that woman.

What were you thinking? Snape groaned to himself.  You wouldn't believe there was a memory charm put on you, will you?

No, of course not, this was only an illusion; an illusion which was getting more and more ridiculous as it went along. 

He could remember every single detail in his life. A lonely childhood, a broken family, a difficult teenage period, a corrupt adult life, a boring teaching job… 

He was definitely not under any spell. He would have known if he had. Snape hid his face in his palms. 

'Are you alright?' someone asked him. 

Snape blinked absent-mindedly. He blinked again. Then he looked out in-between his fingers and saw Annabelle's concerned face. 

Yes, that insufferable girl was still here. 

'That's none of your business, Miss Yates,' growled Snape, refusing to let her or her words affect him anymore. 

'Leave now, or I will take off more points from your house.'

'Take as many points as you wish from Gryffindor, I don't care.'

'That's interesting,' Snape swept around the room and waved his wand to clean up the mess on the student tables. He didn't want to see her face now. 

'You speak like you don't care about your house at all.' He tried to find a safe topic. 

'Not in the least if you are referring to Gryffindor.' She stepped in front of him and looked directly into his eyes. 

'Don't avoid my question. Why are you doing this?' 

'Doing what?' asked Snape blankly. He could now think of nothing but the fact that her eyes were as dewy as the first time he saw them.

'Being heartless and speaking venoms. You are not as bad as you have presented to the world, Se-Snape.'  She winked her eyes when mentioning about his name and the magic broke. 

'Ten points off, you idiot girl, don't ever call me by my name,' he barked at her. 

'Now, out! You have no rights to question your teacher.' With this remark,

he stormed out the classroom, with his black cloak rippling dramatically after him. 

'What's wrong? Why was he reacting so violently?' 

'Oh, got a crush on your teacher, girly?' It was Peeves the Poltergeist, the prankster of Hogwarts. He floated into the classroom from the ceiling. 

            'Should I tell the other teachers about this?' he circled around Annabelle jovially. 

'The sneaky Sevvy has a secret admirer. That's a BIG news. The sneaky sevvy has a little secret admirer.' He almost sang out loud at the end of his words. 

'You know what? You really annoy me, Peeves.' She spoke in a matter-of-fact way, but the mischievous light in her eyes somewhat alarmed Peeve. 

'Headmaster,' Snape stormed into Dumbledore's office.

'Sit down, Severus. Want a cup of tea?' said the old wizard beamingly.

'No, thank you, Headmaster,' Snape remained standing. 

Dumbledore sighed inwardly. Though he was the closest person to Snape, Snape always treated him with an aloof politeness. 

'Then, what can I do for you?'

'Can you…' Snape hesitated; he didn't really know what had happened to him yet, was it wise telling the Headmaster his latest illusion? 

            'Yes?' Dumbledore waited patiently. 

'Can you test a memory-revision charm on me?'

'Why?' Dumbledore stood up from his chair. 

'Do you suspect yourself being put under a memory charm?'

'Yes, I have tried an anti spell already but nothing happened.' Yet, he was sure he had forgotten something about his past, something that really mattered to him. 

'Sit down.' Dumbledore ordered. He held out his wand and muttered a spell. A breeze wheeled around Snape. 

_'He's your responsibility.' 7-year old Severus Snape heard his father shouting. _

He shivered and crawled into the corner of his small bedroom. He felt so cold. The blanket wrapped around him was no good, the warm winter sun outside also failed to warm the room. 

_'Oh, my god! Excuse me, what's his last name? Snape! Not Parker!' shrilled his mother in a high pitch of voice. The fact that their small son might have overheard them seemed unimportant to her or her husband.  _

_Severus sniffed back a sob in his throat. He curled his tiny body against the wall furthermore. His young heart could not understand why his parents were always arguing. _

_Maybe it was because of him, Severus suddenly thought. Maybe they often argue because he was a bad boy; maybe his worthless existence had aggravated everyone; maybe if he just went away, his parents would live happily forever, like the prince and princess in his fairy book. _

_Slowly, Severus climbed to his feet and moved to his drawer. Inside the drawer was a little bottle. He had filled it with his potion a few days ago. He wanted to use it to impress his father. His father would be overjoyed if he knew his son was able to make a potion out from the instruction in one of his dark arts books._

_But things didn't go according to Severus' plan. That morning, his mother found the potion before his father did. She was downright shocked and furious. She rushed to her husband's private rooms and they started to fight. _

_            He must have done something wrong again. Why couldn't he ever do things correctly and make his parents happy? _

_Severus pulled the cork out. He was going to drink the potion. According to his father's book, he would then turn into a pool of water. He hoped his parents wouldn't mind if the carpet was wet, and would be content with him as water.  He pressed the bottle close to his mouth. _

_'Accio!' The bottle flew away from his hand. _

_Severus startled. There was a woman in his bedroom holding his bottle. _

_'Who…who are you?'  Questioned the young child, pretending not to be afraid. Father would be angry if he ever knew his son had backed down from anyone. _

_'Your friend.' The woman answered shortly. She kneeled down to see his face. _

_'I don't have any friends.' Severus said the words one by one, in a low hiss. The woman was just teasing him, she must know he never had a friend. _

_'And I don't want any.' He added. _

_'But I am your friend, Severus,' she smiled at him. _

_'I will always be with you from now on. Sharing your happiness and your sadness. I will teach you everything you need to know.' _

_Severus looked straight into the woman's eyes. Immediately, he found that he liked her eyes. Her eyes were full of warmth and- love. Did she love him?_

_'Yes, I do.' Severus had said his question out unconsciously. Her words were tempting. He wanted to take them, but being hated and abandoned for his whole 7-year life restrained him from that. After all, who would want an evil child? _

_'Why do you want me to be your friend?' _

_'Because I like you. I have wandered around the world for a very long time, Severus, a really long time. I try to find a child that need me and want me. But for a very long time, I couldn't find any.' Severus watched as she brought her right hand to rest on his cheek, her hand was amazingly soft and warm. _

_'Luckily, I found you. You are talented, though that's not the thing I expected at first, you can definitely help me doing my task. Do you understand?' _

_Warmth ran through Severus, from his cheek to his entire body. That was a feeling of being loved and needed. _

_'Will you always love me?' the 7-year old asked._

_'Yes.' She smiled at him and he smiled back, tentatively._

_'Will you ever leave me?' he sought for more promises._

_'Never.' _

_'Even if I am not good?' _

_She sighed heavily. 'Severus, you have to learn that we live for ourselves. We have to think independently, not just according to what others think. And, even if the whole world thinks you are not good, I know they are wrong. Because I can see you as who you really are, not who they think you are.'_

_'Really?' he found it easy to trust her words now. Since she was his friend, and he should trust his friend. _

_'Believe me, my dear boy, you are the most wonderful creature in this world.' She assured him and pulled him to her. _

_Severus stiffened. This was his first time, as far as he could remember, being hugged in a loving fashion. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. But gradually, bit by bit, he relaxed. Inhaling the sweet scent from her body, he closed his eyes and let the peacefulness crawl into his veins. _

Dumbledore and Snape remained in silence for a few moments. 

'Anything happen?' the old wizard asked at last.

'Yes, but the memory fades away too quickly.' Snape hugged his head tightly; his routine headache had come back to visit him. He could not remember the scenes clearly, but the feeling of love and being loved was still strangely strong. 

Dumbledore frowned. 'It may be a powerful memory charm. We have to try together with the magic of other professors.' 

Great! Snape thought bitterly. Now everyone would know he had lost a part of his memory. 

'What makes you think you are under a memory charm in the first place, Severus?' Dumbledore was worried. What if Voldemort had done something to Snape?

'Annabelle Yates.' Snape replied. 

'I have begun to see pictures after meeting her. And I heard myself actually asking a woman why she put a memory charm on me today.'

            'That girl again. Maybe Emma is right after all, that girl is questionable.' The event happened in the feast slipped back to Dumbledore. 

'We need to take some precautions.'

'No.' Snape interrupted awkwardly. 

'She's ok. In fact, she is the most brilliant student I have ever seen at Hogwarts in a long time. There's no need to separate her from her schoolmates.' 

But his words failed to reassure the Headmaster. Instead, Dumbledore felt even more anxious. There was something in Snape's reaction bothered him. His potion master had been over-protective towards Annabelle Yates. If this happened in the past, Dumbledore would only feel glad that Snape had finally learnt how to care about others, but Annabelle Yates was too mysterious for Dumbledore to trust. 

'Severus,' he was starting to say when Professor McGonagall came in.

'Albus, you better come and see this,' she said. 

'What's happened?' Dumbledore had a bad feeling about it.

'It's Peeves. He's sick.'

'But he's a ghost. A ghost can't get sick, can he?' Snape asked in surprise.


End file.
